Citizen journalism is when everyday people or
people who are not trained journalists collect, report and distribute news and
information just like mainstream or professional journalists but post their
“work” on social media platforms, whereas mainstream journalists post theirs in
the traditional media. These people may have different objectives and ideals
for gathering and reporting on these news items and information. Examples of
citizen journalism is the gathering and reporting by citizens during the 2010
Haiti earthquake and the December 2010 Arab spring. These citizens do the
gathering and reporting by the use of technological devices like mobile phones
and digital cameras. These news items and information mostly come in the form
of video, audio and pictures. They are posted on social media platforms such as
blogs, photo and video- sharing sites like youtube, etc. It can exist within
the main framework of a mainstream media outlet and it can also exist on its
own.
Social
media can be said to be a platform which enables interactions on the web by
means of creating, sharing and/or exchanging information and ideas. These
interactions are done by the use of texts, audio and video using online
applications. Some of these applications are facebook, blogs, wikis, podcasts,
twitter , deli:cious, bado, youtube, linkedin etc. Citizen journalists
therefore use these platforms (facebook, Reddit, youtube,etc) to share news
items and information to members within their circles who in turn also
distribute it to those within their circles. These social platforms allow users
to contribute or comment on the postings of other users. These comments may
either be positive or negative pertaining on how the user views it.
Traditional media is the old and usually
archaic or out- moded way of distributing news items and information. It can
also be the non-electronic mediums which works as part of our culture and as
vehicles transmitting tradition from one generation to the other. Traditional
media includes radio, newspapers, magazines, books, movies and orally.
Traditional media has been used for years in the forms of sales promotions,
public relations and direct marketing, before the advent of the internet and
eventually the development of social media through the amendment of web 1.0 to
web 2.0 which is user friendly.
The
introduction of social media platforms such as facebook, twitter, youtube,
Reddit and the like, as well as the innovation of technological devices such as
mobile phones, iPads, digital cameras and laptops, just to mention a few has
had a somehow tremendous or crippling effect on the traditional media used by
mainstream journalists. In that, social media platforms allows for users to
post or broadcast whatever information they want to share online without any real
restrictions in spaces supposed to be used and times convenient for these
information or news items to be shared. Unlike traditional media, the social
media allows these citizen journalists to reach out to a limitless amount of
people at the same time whereas the traditional media is limited in the number
of people it reaches. Information put across in traditional media can also not
reach a lot of people at the same time. Though technological devices and the
use of the internet is expensive and thus demand a lot of monetary investment
as supposed to traditional media which is less expensive, the new media
transmits information faster and it is also easier for citizen journalists to
use. Social media also allows citizen journalists to get instant feedback from
other users unlike the traditional media whereby readers or the audience needs
to write or send feedback which will be publicized in the next issue of
traditional media if it is print like newspapers or magazines or read on the
program if it is a show on radio, since the traditional media is limited on the
basis of time, space and days when programs are televised or delivered. The
gathering, reporting and distribution by citizen journalists by use of social
media affect the work or the transmission of mainstream journalists and media
houses in that, the audience are now relying more on citizen journalists for
news and information online and “abandoning” the traditional media which used
to be their only source of news items and information on either news,
entertainment, sports, etc. This to an extent is also because accessing social
media platforms for information is not time consuming like the traditional
media. Thus, one can access whatever information he or she likes at his or her
own convenience online unlike the traditional media which does not give this
option. For example, if any audience wants to watch the day’s happenings, he or
she needs to wait till evening when most media houses telecasts the news
bulletin before getting informed on what made the news during the day. However,
social media allows for the user to access any of the social platforms at any
given time suitable for the user to get the information he or she requires
without any restriction on time.
Despite
all the above mentioned effects citizen journalism through the use of social
media is having on the traditional media due to the active participation by the
users of these social media platforms, traditional media houses are rapidly
integrating citizen journalists in the mainstream media by equally creating
accounts and/ or pages on social media platforms like facebook and twitter
which allows citizen journalists to share with them any information be it in
the form of texts, photos, audio and videos which they in turn use as part of
their mainstream disseminating or distribution of information or comment on
their reportage. Citizen journalists have also welcomed this initiative by the
traditional media and thus contribute to the pages or accounts created by these
traditional media houses’ on social platforms anything they deem as worth
sharing to aid them in their work by sometimes creating awareness and other
times to educate or bring to the notice of the proper authorities to cause a
change in their environment. Traditional media houses have also created
websites which allows for users to access the page at any given time for any
information needed. They also now have online publications of their traditional
outlets which the audience can have access to at any time. Examples of traditional
media houses which have incorporated citizen journalism into their mainstream
reporting and dissemination are CNN and TV3. Tv3 has created a segment on their
seven o’clock news bulletin called ‘Mynews’ which allows for viewers to share
with them news stories which is basically in a video form before or during the
news on situations going on in their communities or around them to be telecast
as part of their news bulletin. They also have a facebook page where they post
the news headlines for the day to allow viewers comment on those headlines, and
their comments read live during the news. CNN also have an online site called
I-Reporter which allows citizen journalists to post news items or share
information usually in a video form.
In
all, though the introduction of social media and social media platforms and the
innovation of technological devices have facilitated the quickest and easiest
way of sharing news items and information by citizen journalists posed a great
threat to the effectiveness of the traditional media, the traditional media
houses is intelligently trying to incorporate citizen journalism into the
mainstream media. Though this is a step in the right direction, the fact still
remains that mainstream journalists of traditional media houses cannot be
everywhere at the same time and will still need to rely on citizen journalists
to relay some or most news items and information on social media platforms like
facebook, twitter, youtube and the like for them to pick and develop into their
mainstream news items. Thus, citizen journalists cannot be do away with since
the mainstream or traditional media houses need them. However, the news items
and information shared by these citizen journalists may not always be factual
or can be twisted based on their affiliations or emotions, and there is no real
way for the other user accessing that information to know the truth. Mainstream
journalists however go by their journalistic principle which entreats them to
be objective in their reportage. Thus, it is devoid of emotions or bias.
Christina Vanderpuye
Benjamin Agyepong
Follykoue Ayele Esther
Solange Moukarzel
Teiko Nartey-Khama
